Oakcrest Then and Now

Choir
Oakcrest School's official music program was started by Mrs. Anne Miller in 2002. She began in her first year by establishing an Upper School choir class. The following year, Middle School choirs were added. Today, Oakcrest has a Concert Chorus, a Liturgical Choir (which sings at Mass every Friday, as well as at special occasions such as Baccalaureate Mass), and sixth, seventh, and eighth grade choirs.

Our Concert Chorus has been able to participate in many amazing performance opportunities over the years. Students have sung with the McLean Orchestra, at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, and in various churches throughout Italy. During its most recent pilgrimage to Italy, the Chorus sang with the Sistine Chapel Choir in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Its most recent special project was collaborating with The Smithsonian Center for Folk Life & Cultural Heritage on a video to promote America’s rich cultural heritage of folk music among young people. 

Spirit Week has always been a time for the whole school community to come together to celebrate Oakcrest through friendly competition and fun! Some things have remained the same throughout the years: students dress up according to a theme each day of the week, there’s the Class Cheer competition, and Field Day.

Oakcrest now has two spirit weeks, one in the fall and one in the spring. Spirit Week in the fall includes an All-School Service Day and a school-wide game of capture the flag. In the spring, we have the Oakcrest Talent Show, and—for the first time ever this year—a carnival to raise money for Oakcrest’s school charity. During the 2004-2005 school year, Oakcrest’s mascot, Charlie the Charger, came into existence! Charlie has helped promote school spirit at pep rallies and other events. Our first Charlie was Grace (Cynkar ‘05) Hearn. 

Service is an important part of character formation at Oakcrest, and Oakies have always been eager to help those in need in their surrounding community. In the 80s, Oakcrest had a Service Club. Members would help others in a variety of ways, from setting up for school assemblies to visiting the elderly at the Washington Home. Today, service at Oakcrest has grown to include All-School Service Day, the Service Initiatives Program, and a recent international mission trip. On All-School Service Day, the entire school community takes a morning to volunteer at organizations in the Northern Virginia/DC area. The Service Initiatives Program is comprised of student service coordinators who organize and manage different monthly service projects. In 2019, Oakcrest sent its first ever mission trip team to Kingston, Jamaica, to work with Mustard Seed Communities, an organization serving 400 children, young adults, and families who belong to the most vulnerable groups in Jamaican society. Additionally, every student completes a number of service hours each semester either within her family or the local community. Our alumnae community continues the Oakcrest tradition of service during Alumnae Week—last year Oakies came together for the first Alumnae Day of Service, helping to put together layette sets and bundle items for

A Woman’s Choice in Herndon, Virginia.

Since its founding, Oakcrest has had a total of 27 alumnae return to serve as faculty and staff members. The very first alumnae to serve on Oakcrest's faculty/staff were Lisa Coyne ‘80 and Eileen (Schnabel '89) Byler in 1992. While at Oakcrest, Lisa served as Director of Admissions and Eileen taught 8th and 9th grade history. Today, we are proud to have seven Oakies serving on our faculty and staff: Monica Kolf ‘01 (Math), Anna Diederich ‘17 (Mathematics), Kathleen Ouyang ‘07 (History), Meghan Hadley ‘06 (Dean of Students, History), Nancy (Williams '98) Miggins (School Nurse), Maritere (Gramatges '91) Crum (Alumnae Relations Coordinator), and Caroline Heeter '97 (Middle School Athletic Director).

College Counseling at Oakcrest started out small and was initially called  "Guidance Counseling." Over the years, this department has expanded so much and offers students so many wonderful resources. Our College Counseling Director provides services such as: 

- Individually advising seniors and their families as they move through the college research, application, and selection process
- Meeting individually with Juniors & their parents in December, Sophomores & their parents in March, and Freshmen in groups in February. 
- Hosting college admissions representatives throughout the fall
- Conducting counselor calls in fall and spring to advocate for our students and also answer any questions about Oakcrest the college may have
- Organizing and implementing Junior College Day in April and Senior College Application day in October
- Organize Fall & Spring Parents' College Night